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Publisher & Managing EditorBetson MathaiChief EditorShajan PonnamattomEditorAnjana RajendranSub EditorAmritha S.M.AdvertisementShobana Ranjan: 9037077299, 9946662655, 0495-4040906, 2366575infofriendadvt@gmail.comNishanth Babu : 9946669687mktg@abcr.in, nbabu079@gmail.comE-mailEditorialinfofriendenglish@gmail.comLayout & DesignJeeja N.K., Infofriend PublicationsPrintingGeethanjali Offset Prints, Calicut.Head OfficeInfofriend, 2nd Floor, Jose Building,Wayanad Road, East Nadakkavu,Nadakkavu. P.O., Kozhikode - 673 011.Kerala, S. India.Tel : 0495 -2366575, 4040906www.infofriend.comPrinted and published by Betson Mathai, Owned by Infofriend Publications, 2nd Floor, Jose building, East Nadakkavu, Kozhikode - 673 011. Kerala, S. India. Printed at Geethanjali Offset Prints, Kozhikode. Place of Publication at Kozhikode and Editor Shajan J.

Gigabyte enters Indian Graphics Card Market

Gigabyte has launched the full range of NVIDIA GeForce graphics cards in India with exclusive distribution partner, IN-GRAM MICRO. Combined with technical expertise, innovative products, and superb customer service, Gigabyte is now bring-ing its top-notch quality products to the market, and providing Indian users the ultimate graphics experience. Given the significance and an anticipated strong growth in the future, India has been targeted as one of Gigabyte key markets for graphics cards in the coming years. By cooperating with INGRAM MICRO, the nationwide leader in IT distribution, Gigabyte graphics cards have become more easily accessible to local users across

the country. Speaking about this partner-ship, Mayank Sharma, country manager of Graphic Card Business Unit at Gigabyte, said, “As for the rapidly growing emerging market like India, the extensive expertise of INGRAM MICRO will be a fast access for us to enter effectively into the market, and increase our presence in the country. We believe we will receive great results together”. To ensure customer service is responded in a timely manner, Gigabyte collaborates with India’s leading integrated IT services provider, Accel Frontline Ltd. All graphics cards have a 3 year carry-in warranty pro-vided by the nearest Gigabyte Authorized Service Center.

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01/NOVEMBER/2014 6NATIONAL UPDATES

Asus concludes 4th pan-India Enthusiasts Meet 2014 with great success Asus successfully concluded the 4th , pan-India Enthusiasts Meet 2014 on Saturday, 27th September. This exclu-sive, invite-only tech meet was held at the Asus India head office in Mumbai. It was a day-long event filled with open discussions, exciting product demos, interaction with Mr. Jack Cheng from Asus R&D and of course, some good ol’ fashioned LN2 overclocking session on the X99 series motherboards. The meet kicked off with an update to Asus’s latest offerings beyond the realm of motherboards and graphics cards. The main purpose of the presentations was to get everyone up to speed with the latest offerings form Asus and also a sneak peak at some upcoming products. This culminated in a very in-depth discussion over Skype with Mr. Jack Cheng, from Asus R&D. Jack took the audience through the conceptualization of OC Socket, an exclusive, patent-pending feature in Asus’s X99 series motherboards which includes the X99-Deluxe/A/Pro as well as the Rampage V Extreme. A thorough explanation of how OC socket functions and the key benefits of the world’s first imple-mentation of having extra pins on the LGA 2011 v3 socket, gave everyone a better understanding of why it’s such an important feature. Enthusiasts could also voice their opinions to Jack about products and features they wanted in existing/future motherboard SKUs. There were a host of demo products which let everyone get a first-hand look and feel of some of the brand new in-novations from Asus. There were a wide range of motherboards starting with the star attraction, which was the X99 series.

Axis hosts its annual Solutions Seminar 2014 Axis Communications hosted its Solu-tion Seminars for 2014 at Ahmedabad and Hyderabad. Held on September 24th and 26th respectively, the seminar witnessed over 120 partners. The core objective of the seminar was to re-connect with the partners and educate them on the recent developments in the company and update them on the security surveillance trends witnessed in the India market. The vertical focus for the Hyderabad event included city surveillance, transpor-

tation and government while education, city and critical infrastructure were the focus areas in Ahmedabad. Key products including ¬Q6045/35- E, Q1922, Q1765-LE, P1425-LE, P1355-E, P3364-V, P1214, P1428-E, M3024-LVE and M3027-PVE were displayed and demonstrated during the seminars. These products are smart and flexible video solutions that meet the fast-changing user expectations for increased and efficient business manage-ment.

neoteric continues with CAMPUS BUDDIES Season II In continuing with Season II of CAMPUS BUDDIES - its characteristic brand property, neoteric infomatique ltd. will visit HL College of Commerce in Ahmed-abad on the 23rd of September and Poona College and Desai College in Pune on the 25th of September. In association with Intel, CAMPUS BUDDIES will offer a hands-on experience of end-to-end, cutting- edge technology-related solutions and services to students there at competitive prices –all under one roof, within the comfort of their own col-lege premises. It will showcase an array of laptops, desktops, notebooks, accessories, Flash & HDD, UPS etc. from leading brands.

*astTECS appoints Partner in FijiastTECS has announced that the company is expanding operations in Fiji and has appointed Office Products/GEM (Fiji) Limited, one of the foremost systems integrators in Fiji with vast experience in managing enterprise communication solu-tion, as its partner. “Fiji is one of the most industrialized pacific island countries and this initiative is aimed at strengthening the company’s presence in new markets that are growing rapidly by providing product sales and As-terisk support & solutions to an expanding

base of customers and partners,” said Mr. Binish VJ, International Business Manager, *astTECS. Through this relationship, Office Prod-ucts/GEM (Fiji) Limited will enable local businesses to benefit from *astTECS product line and offer them a wide range of cost- effective, highly flexible and versatile communication solution to suit their needs along with full spectrum of support. *astTECS develops solutions that utilizes the power of Open Source and IP changing the way businesses stay connected.

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01/NOVEMBER/2014 8NATIONAL UPDATES

RAPOO appoints Inspan and Creative in South India as distributors RAPOO has announced its expansion in distributing RAPOO products by appointing two top distributors - Inspan Infotech and Creative peripherals. To meet the growing needs and to provide better service & support to the custom-ers and partners in South, RAPOO takes a step ahead with this appoint-ment. Distribution of RAPOO products in South is divided into two parts; Inspan will cater for Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry, & Kerala. Creative Peripherals, who is currently handling RAPOO’s West India distribution, will cater Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, & Karnataka.

ZyXEL offers ZyXEL One Network Global IT conglomerate ZyXEL now intro-duces ZyXEL One Network’ (ZON) util-ity for small and medium size businesses which breaks the common approach with an user-friendly interface to help adminis-trators to easily deploy and assign IPs for devices across different product ranges such as Wi-Fi APs, switches and gateways with exactly ‘one single platform.’ The new application streamlines the initial setup process, provides single point man-agement, facilitates smart and true integra-tion and, of course, come entirely free of cost, unlike other players. “Biggest challenge for MSME businesses deploying a network is that networking de-vices like switches or Wi-Fi APs come with a static default IP address for management

or need to configure a DHCP environ-ment for these devices. This promotes need to take time and patience to power up and then assign IP addresses to dozens of devices. ZyXEL ONE Network (ZON) is one clear solution to that,” says Gurnek Singh Thiara, senior technocrat at ZyXEL, New Delhi. Gurnek says that presently, administrators have to power up each device to change IP settings repeatedly, or use several utilities or heavy NMS to deploy a network as well as to add new devices to the current net-work. The ZON utility not only enables auto-discovery of ZyXEL devices across different product ranges instantly, but also displays detailed device information once it is plugged to the infrastructure.

Kaspersky Lab appoints Peter Hewett as Managing Director, Asia Pacific Kaspersky Lab announces the appointment of Peter Hewett to the position of Managing Director of Kaspersky Lab Asia Pacific. In his new role Peter will be responsible for the company’s overall business operations in the Asia Pacific region, includ-ing sales, marketing and business development functions. Peter brings a range of expertise in development of regional business strategies to the role, and is helping to build on the company’s continued success in what is arguably the world’s most dynamic region, Asia Pacific. He will be based in Singapore.

Rashi Peripherals to offer iPhone 6 & iPhone 6 Plus in India Rashi Peripherals announced thatcmd it will offer iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, the biggest advancements in iPhone his-tory, at leading modern trade stores and retail outlets across India. iPhone 6 will be available starting at INR

53,500 and iPhone 6 Plus will be available starting at INR 62,500. Customers can pre-order iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus through select partner retail locations in over 20 cit-ies. More information is available at www.rptechindia.com

150Mbps Wireless N Outdoor AP Router (CA-RAPO150)The CA-RAPO150 is an ideal solution for integrators and installers to establish building-to-building wireless network connections. The CA-RAPO150 features high transmitted output power, high receivable sensitivity and built-in directional antenna. Supporting highly secure WPA/The CA-RAPO150 also includes a PoE injector, as well as, mast strap that all makes installation easy. FEATURES• 150Mbps Downstream and Up-

stream• Support 20MHz and 40 MHz

bandwidth• DHCP Server/Client• Firewall, IP/Port/MAC filtering

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WD introduces My Passport Wireless driveWD has unveiled My Passport Wire-less, an easy to use Wi-Fi enabled storage drive that allows consumers to save, access and share stored con-tent wirelessly with any smartphone, tablet, computer or other device. The My Passport Wireless drive broadcasts its own wireless network that allows up to eight devices to con-nect at the same time and access any content stored on the drive. Avail-able in 500GB, 1TB or 2TB models, users now have the ability to store and access up to hundreds of hours of movies and music. The portable wireless drive features Wireless N with MIMO technology for enhanced wireless performance so that users can access and transfer files quickly, as well as stream up to four HD videos simultaneously. The built-in rechargeable battery provides up to six hours of continuous stream-ing and up to 20 hours of standby power making the drive a perfect travel companion. With the My Passport Wireless drive users have anywhere, anytime access to their favorite digital content by using WD’s award winning WD My Cloud mobile app for iOS or Android mobile devices. The WD My Cloud mobile app easily con-nects to a My Passport Wireless drive for simple product setup, and once setup the mobile app provides intui-tive navigation, sharing and playback of the drive’s content.My Passport Wireless is priced at approximately INR 11,000 for 500 GB and approxi-mately INR 13,000 for 1 TB and is available in India.

D-Link extends it focus on Network Storage business

In recent times D-Link’s focused segment-wise business approach has lead the company to astounding success. Since last couple of years, D-Link - the end-to-end networking solutions provider for consum-ers and businesses has strategically targeted product segments & business verticals that have brought compounded annual growth. Following suit, D-Link (India) Ltd. shall now extend its focus on Network Storage business. As part of company strategy to extend its Network Storage Business line, D-Link at its recently concluded channel/ System Integrator meet in Mumbai presented its business & distribution model for network

storage. Additionally D-Link also introduced a range of Network Storage devices for businesses and Enterprises. As part of focussed approach, D-Link has introduced value added distribution at regional level namely D-Link Storage Principal, which will enable the solution oriented channel of D-Link Storage Plus Partner base in the respective region.Going forward the company will appoint more such principal partners PAN India.D-Link Storage Plus Partner – With D-Link Storage Plus Partners will effectively position D-Link Network Storage solution amongst end-customer.

Cadyce CA-IP400MP CameraMonitor your Home or Office, using Cadyce CA-IP400MP which gives Mega-Pixel resolution with two way audio. Complimentary camera management SecuGuard software monitors 64 cameras simultaneously.FEATURES• Event trigger action: Send to NAS,

send to FTP, send to Email, Voice alert, save to mSD card, go to preset or tour, notify to HTTP/TCP servers

• Built in IR LED and ICR for day & night surveillance without color shift, controlled by FW

• 1600*1200 resolution, max 15fps (2M mode)

USB Sync Cable – CA-USC1USB Sync Cable CA-USC1 is Apple MFi Certified which allows you to sync / charge and transfer music or data to / from your iPod, iPhone, iPad and also supports Win-dows PC or Mac.• Apple MFi Certified• Transfer music/data to your iPod,

iPhone, iPad• Sync and Charge your iPad, iPhone, at

the same time• Sync & transfer your music files from

your PC or Mac to your iPod, iPhone & iPad

• Can be connected to the iPod USB car charger / wall charger for charging-Compatible with Apple iPhone, iPad, iPod Classic, iPod Nano, iPod Touch

01/NOVEMBER/2014 10COVERSTORY

The traditional market segments are changing. There is marked shift in the way consumers are shopping. The offline retailers

who offered the only connect with the products for the consumers is changing dramatically. Today with mobile comput-ing getting popular, the consumer is choos-ing online retail for greater information about the products and also in some cases to make the purchases. This rapid shift of consumers towards online retail over the past few years has left the retailer feel-ing the heat. The IT resellers are worried about this changing trend in the market which afffected their sales in the recent times. One of the biggest advantages online retail-ers have over their offline retailers is their

aggressive pricing strategies. The consum-er who is increasingly relying on online for all queries and enquiries, find the online pricing very attractive. The consumers in recent time have shown greater gravitation towards online market for their shopping needs. Online shopping has become a popular trend in India now. People have been enjoying the convenience of having their order shipped right to their doorstep.A study by the Internet and Mobile As-sociation of India projects the Internet user base to grow from 150 million in 2012 to 400 million by 2015. Online market-place has seen a marked increase in the recent times. Today, the online shopping sites are springing up every other day and each one offers increasingly competitive pricing making the end-consumer spoiled

fro choice in the online retail space. The big players include eBay, Fashion and You, Flipkart, Amazon, Myntra and Snapdeal. The big sites not only offer the advantage of pricing but also offer the primary advan-tage of shopping from anywhere. Shopping from your home with a PC or a mobile phone is not just hassle-free but also offers you a wider choice. With almost all e-tailers giving the option of cash-on-delivery, the customer confidence in buying online has certainly increased. This has seen a marked shift in the consum-ers towards online retail. In this year, the online skepticism has gone and the people are increasingly picking online over offline in making their shopping choices. According to eMarketer, the Indian e-retail market crossed $2 billion in 2012 and is

01/NOVEMBER/2014 11COVERSTORY

expected to clock $16 billion in 2017. The online retails offer varied shopping choices be it in terms of fashion, electronics, furnishings and IT. Electronics and IT have managed to find a loyal customer base am-

ing the online retail space. The metros and the big towns are not the only markets that are opting for online retail. The consum-ers in C-class cities are also opting for the online retail opiton. The end-customers

are increasingly looking for IT space to order the latest mobile or tablet. In fact, some of the products make their first presence through the online retail space before becoming available in the offline retail shops. This changing dynamics will have a long term affect in the traditional IT market. Even though it is in the beginning stages, the IT channel and the distributors will have to reinvent their business models to make themselves relevant and stay in the business. The offline retailers will also have to make a value added approach towards their consumers in order to beat the grow-ing popularity of the online retail space. The biggest heat that the offline retailers feel is the cut throat aggressive pricing of-fered by the online retailers. The MOP has badly affected the overall margins of the retailers. The price sensitive Indian market will always opt for a cheaper option creat-ing a huge challenge for the offline retailers to attract the end-consumer. The festive season has unfolded the online frenzy now. It began with Flipkart opening its doors to their much touted "Big Billion Day" on October 6 at 8 AM, calling it as ‘the sale to end all sales’. The e-tailer has claimed great success but the consum-ers did not get to pick their choices. The offline retailer is sure to be upset with the loss of customers. The Flipkart "Big Billion Day" offer was followed by a huge onslaught of e-tail offers during this festive season. Ama-zon's "Diwali Dhamaka Week", Snapdeal's "Diwali Bumper Sale" and "The eBay Dilwali Fest," search-engine giant Google has launched "Grand Diwali Mela" have all managed to gain the attention of the cua-tomers. While the customers and e-tailers are happy about it, the offline retailers are unhappy and facing the crunch of this online festive frenzy.There is no doubt that these offers during the festive season has caused a huge loss of sales opportunities for the offline retailers during this festive season. With the IT products, the customers might pay a visit to the offline retailer to get the feel of the product but mostly opts for online choices while making the final purchase. The offline retailers are today getting more enquiry and less sales at their stores.The vendors have recognised the potential of hurt this online retail is causing on the traditional retail markets. Some vendors assert that the gaining of marketshare by

How adversely have the online festive retail of-fers affected the sales of IT offline retailers?As of now, there hasn’t been a major impact to the offline retailers as far as we seen. It is inevitable to see a slight decline during this festive season as more and more consumers are becoming aware of e-commerce in India. What steps can the IT offline resellers take to ensure a greater market reach during the festive

COVERSTORY INTERVIEW

e-tail here to stay

Mr. Vinay Shetty, Country Head,

Asus Techcnologies Pvt Ltd.season?Offline IT resellers still have the distinct advantage of being able to offer the consumer a ‘hands-on’ with the product, something online retailers simply can’t do. With the right promotions and mar-keting plan in heavy footfall regions like shopping malls, there’s no reason why they shouldn’t be able to increase their market reach during such a time. In this changing retail landscape, how can the offline retailers hold on to the consumer base?Most of the successful offline retailers have kept abreast with the times and already have a strong online presence as well. This not only ensures they hold onto their existing customer base but also helps them widen their reach. Some key vendors have decided to boy-cott e-tail spacing due to their predatory price offerings. Is this step going to hold in the long term?Whether we like it or not, the e-tail space is here to stay and with giants like Ama-zon.in and Flipkart.com dominating the

Indian e-tail space, it’s only going to get bigger with time. By going the online route, you cut down on a lot of inter-mediately costs which in turn, allows vendors to provide aggres-sive pricing and in a price-sensitive market like India, every Rupee saved goes a long way in making that final purchase decision. What steps can the Government do to control the pricing so that the retailer can enjoy healthy profit

margins?In order to ensure both parties enjoy healthy business, the pricing of high volume products could be kept stable at both ends for a pre-determined period of time. This way, it is up to the customer which route he/she’s more comfortable taking. What is your advice to the IT resellers fighting tough competition from the online space?In order to stay competitive, it is ex-tremely important to have an online pres-ence. As more and more people grow ac-customed to the idea of e-commerce, it’s only a matter of time till the IT user base moves away from the offline retail model. Unlike other finished products which need a physical inspection before making the final decision, IT products, especially components, are usually selected based on online reviews these days. In order to stay competitive, offline retailers will have to jump on the online bandwagon sooner or later.

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COVERSTORY INTERVIEW

How adversely have the online festive retail of-fers affected the sales of IT offline retailers?Though online retail festive offers prove successful to e-tailers, most of the times they lead dissatisfaction to customers and brands. These offers spoil the sales opportunities dur-ing the festive season that was estimated by offline retailers and brands, which is considered as the peak

Retailers need online campaign

Mr. Anil Gupta, AVP – India Sales, eScan

season for their business. They are forced to sell products in much lower price than their actual buying price, thus affecting their profit margins.What steps can the IT offline resellers take to ensure a greater market reach dur-ing the festive season?Offline retailers can enhance their market reach by focusing more on branding and building trust. They can optimize their association with local distributors and channel partners across various locations that will help them fulfill orders with reduced delivery period as well as cost. In addition, retailers can win the battle against e-commerce by enhancing their customer support and warranty. This will also lead to enhanced customer satisfaction, sales and profile margins.Many shoppers first check for informa-tion online and then make purchase offline, means ROPO (Research Online, Purchase Offline). Hence, websites, today, play a pivotal role in business, not

just for online retail-ers, but for offline retailers too. Thus, it is wise to have a responsive website and an intel-ligent online market-ing campaign for the festive season. As the usage of Smart-phones is increasing, the website must en-sure seamless mobile experience across desktop, mobile and tablet devices that will enhance the op-

portunity for offline retailers to capture significant market share. In this changing retail landscape, how can the offline retailers hold on to the consumer base?Offline retailers can hold on to the cus-tomer base by focusing more on value addition, competitive pricing, customer service, assurance for quality, as well as offering an overall great shopping experi-ence.Some key vendors have decided to boy-cott e-tail spacing due to their predatory price offerings. Is this step going to hold in the long term?In the long-run it is viable as e-commerce companies are engaging in predatory pricing and selling at a loss to capture the market.What steps can the Government do to control the pricing so that the retailer can enjoy healthy profit margins?As of now, no steps have been initiated by Government on same.

COVERSTORY

online channels is inevitable because the business model and economies of scale offered by online sellers are real, and will continue to be so in future.They describe it as a part of the changing trend in the changing times. The key factor being the ability to strike a balance so that

the offline retailer does not loose out in the market space. This festive season, the retail outlets on high streets and inside malls are trying to hold on to the business that has been theirs alone for years, through lower prices and deals. It is very difficult for the retailers to

match the discounts or offers being made by their online counterparts. Offline retail-ers have been hurt but it is difficult to put a number to the business loss due to online discountsAt present the Indian government permits 100 percent FDI in cash-and-carry, online marketplaces, single-brand retail and business-to-business e-commerce. The government also allowed up to 51 percent FDI in multi-brand offline retail last year. However, FDI investments in multi-brand retailing in e-commerce and online retail chains with the inventory-led model are completely prohibited. The government has only allowed investments in online marketplaces which help the SMB sector. While the country's largest listed retailer Future Group has said that the big bang sale strategies being adopted by online platforms is anti-competitive for selling products below cost price, merchants selling wares on these marketplace models have said that the e-commerce platforms are forcing them to sell products much lower than their actual buying price that are adversely affecting profit margins.Even traders body CAIT has asked the Commerce and Industry Ministry to take steps to monitor and regulate online busi-nesses. In a letter to Commerce and Indus-try Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, National General Secretary of Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) Praveen Khandelwal demanded, setting up of a regulatory au-thority for e-commerce business in India.“We invoke your kind and immediate at-tention to ongoing sale offers conducted by various e-commerce companies since last three days...they are offering discounts from 20 percent to 70 percent, whereas traders are forced to sell same products in offline markets at a higher prices since their purchase price is on a very higher side,” he mentioned in his letter.He added further, saying, “Such a practice if continued, may result into unavailability of products in offline market which will further result into a monopolistic situation which will be controlled and dominated by the e commerce retailers. In the present case, the traders are in a disadvantageous position and cannot compete with online retailers.”Vendors selling their products online allege that big e-tailers like Flipkart are enjoy-ing venture capital and FDI funds, while forcing them to sell at heavy discount rates. On top of that, the vendors also have to

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COVERSTORY INTERVIEW

COVERSTORY

Retailers should provide unique shopping experience

How adversely have the online festive retail offers affected the sales of IT offline retailers?Online festive offers have surely affected the business of retailers in gen-eral, especially those belonging to the fast-moving consumer electronics sectors. Consumers of such products, such as mo-bile phones, digital camera, etc., can find the huge discounts that online sites offer to be irresistible.

Sunil Grewal, Director – Sales & MarCom,

GIGABYTE Technology (India) Pvt. Ltd.

However, such online trend has impacted the business of PC component retailers only negligibly. For buying PC compo-nents, the consumer generally prefers a physical face to interact that can be trusted to offer product briefings, guid-ance, demos and also, an efficient post sales services. What steps can the IT offline resellers take to ensure a greater market reach dur-ing the festive season?Since consumers look for good bargains and offers during the festive season, resellers can work on their strategy along these lines. As they can’t give heft discounts like those given by online retailers, they can give customers offers like product bundles, attractive finance schemes, cash-back schemes, in-store branding with support from product vendors, etc.Reseller associations can do their bit by coming together to highlight / publicise their offerings / schemes at IT market hubs. Even vendors, whose products they sell, will encourage any such effort carried out by associations. In this changing retail landscape, how can the offline retailers hold on to the consumer base?

For this, resellers have to go back to the basics of selling.. It’s all about how you satisfy your custom-ers. The stress should be on providing a unique customer experience or rather a customized shop-ping experience, or product solution.Some key vendors have decided to boycott e-tail spacing due to their predatory price offerings. Is this step going to hold in the long term?Many vendors, whose

products are being sold at huge dis-counts by online sellers, have expressed their displeasure with this new trend. According to them, they have not authorised anybody to sell at such a low price, and they also are not responsible for offering post-sales services. After all, the brand takes a beating when the same product model is being sold at disparate prices simultaneously. All of us in the industry should realise and acknowledge the fact that online sales is here to stay. We should strive to strike a balance to ensure that online sales are not at the cost of offline sales. The two concepts should be able to live with each other. In this age, online and offline retailing should complement also each other.What steps can the Government do to control the pricing so that the retailer can enjoy healthy profit margins?The government should ensure that all sales, whether offline or online, should comply with the rules of the land, and none should get an undue advantage. Customer delight should be motto for any kind of sales concept, whether it’s product quality, post-sales services or value for money.

bear expenses towards delivery, shipment and return, further reducing their profit margins.The Online Vendors Association of India now plans to initiate a measure to combat their woes by creating a forum for online vendors and develop a clear online vendor policy to regulate pricing and avoid such price disparity since online stores, be-cause of their unfair business practices are killing the regular normal business of a vendor. Offline retailers cannot match the prices being offered online and ultimately vendors are bearing the brunt of discount policies of these e-platforms.On the other hand, the offline retailers too have alleged that it is impossible to match the online offers and they don’t event intend doing so. The offline retailers will have to come up with innovative strategies to attract the customer. As the cut throat pricing cannot be followed through, the of-fline retailer will have to provide additional value added offerings to their products. The retailer needs to offer accessories and service needs for the consumer. The hu-man touch is what the offline retailer has to offer over the online retailer. The tradition-al market will have to rethink its approach and make a stronger bid for the consumers who come in to enquire about the prod-ucts. The offline retailers also need to open up online avenues to market their products and cater to the changing consumer tastes. This will no doubt be a slow and long term approach that is bound to bring in results for the resellers. The online retailer will have to rethink their approach. After the bumper 'Big Bil-lion Day Sale' by Flipkart, electronic ma-jors like Samsung, Sony and LG have de-cided to suspend their future sales on the platform, while considering legal action for ‘predatory pricing’. They are of the opinion that Flipkart's strategy will make a nega-tive impact on offline retail. To avoid such instances in future, brands have decided to suspend supplies to Flipkart till the time they get an undertaking that prices will not be slashed to ‘unrealistic’ levels.Is this online retailing just a passing trend or likely to takeover the traditional retail space? There is no doubt that the consum-ers are increasingly prefering this to the offline retailers. So the traditional resellers will have to look out for newer approaches. The vendors will also need to take up mea-sures to ensure that the traditional retailer does not loose out in the fray.

01/NOVEMBER/2014 14INTERVIEW BlackBerry has always managed to com-mand an immense buzz in the smartphone market even with the foray of new players. What would you attribute this interest to?Fundamentally, BlackBerry has always been perceived and looked upon as a business friendly device. The customers have always trusted it for its capabilities and the flawless functioning that it offers. As an organization, we constantly keep focusing on ensuring that we cater to the right demands of our target audience. Our success has been due to the fact that we understand the needs of the customers we are catering to. Today, the customer knows exactly what they want and we have been able to support and offer them the latest in technology. If you look at our latest edition of Passport devices, it has been one of the best key devices that people globally have acknowledged as great technology. What are your expectations from the smartphone segment in 2014?From overall categories, I am sure you have the best numbers possible in terms of the forecasted growth for this particular year as well as in the next year as well.We will continue to maintain our posi-tion with the leadership within the office segment as well as on the consumer side as well. But when you are looking at it from a holistic perspective, our focus is definitely going to be revolving around the enterprise market. We will be focusing our energies on which predominantly device being the first one, QNX being the second one, enterprise being the third one and messaging being the fourth one. Obviously, as an organiza-tion we have evolved our complete strategy around these four pillars and we will con-tinue to drive the market. What are the exciting product lines and solutions to be expected in the future from BlackBerry?Of course, we don’t comment on what is not yet public in terms of our new products and offerings. But the recent additions of passport has been revised.As and when we have new offerings, we will reach out to you with the latest offer-ings in the market. BlackBerry QNX platform offers multi-layered security, what is your strategy to create awareness among customers looking for strong security infrastructure in the mobile computing times?

QNX as a platform is the most secure,

Constant evolution of quality solutions from BlackBerryInfofriend spoke with Mr. Hitesh Shah, Director, Channel Sales, BlackBerry, India on their marketing strategy and product solutions.

stable, reliable platform which everybody including wherever there is speed and response require be it NASA or security or be it health care equipment. Every field uses QNX as a platform. QNX as a security platform is very well known. Our approach in terms of spreading the awareness is in basically making sure that all our devices including the BlackBerry 10 works on QNX platform. The message that we have constantly given to our enterprise as well as the complete customer base has always been on the lines that QNX as a platform is the most trusted platform. The ways of communicating to them have been. Obviously, we have not publicize QNX as a platform per se.But in terms of our engagement with

our customers, we have definitely high-lighted the same. We do different events and organize different programmes. We connect with our customers where we categorically highlight and explain to them on these parameters. These are in the form of events, get togethers, CIO events. They are relevant because they are people who actually understand technology. We constantly keep engaging with them and we ensure that we are updated on the platform itself. On the security side, it is globally known that BlackBerry is the whole standard of security so we don’t need to reiterate that. The reality of the matter is that we have our won standard. Everybody else is aspiring to be like Black-Berry and meet our standards. We are the leaders in the brand in the market than anybody else in the market currently.BlackBerry Z3 has received good recep-tion in the Indian market. What makes it standout among the competitors?

We will be focusing our ener-gies on which predominantly device being the first one, QNX being the second one, enterprise being the third one and messaging being the fourth one. Obviously, as an organization we evolved our complete strategy around these four pillars and we will continue to drive the market.

01/NOVEMBER/2014 15INTERVIEW The reason we foresee BlackBerry Z3 to be a great success and the market response also has been on similar lines that we have packaged it well. India is price friendly market. It is a value for money product and that is how the Indian customers look at product when they buy it. The value of the product is just right. That has been the greatest success or USP of the product. When we speak of the features, benefits and compactness. There really is no single parameter on which the product stands. It is the whole proposition and the whole package has been created that has helped. All of the above factors have helped to make it so successfulChannel hygiene has been one of the big-gest factors that has been really driving and really helping to manage. Trust being the highest priority from a channel perspective is established only when you take measures that channel partners do not lose money due to cross-territory sales and price wars.

We try to ensure that they make money on every product and they will not loose any money. Make a little bit of money on every product. With the low-cost smartphone players entering the market, how do you position BlackBerry products to the price conscious customers?Not everyone wants to play in the segment. That is a different segment. Currently, we do not compete in that segment. How-ever just to add to the very basic fact that we have products starting at 9,500 price bracket range and every 2000 rs difference we have a new product. We are not competing in the segment which is 5000, 6000 and 7000. We believe in giving the right quality. We stand with what we are delivering to the customer in terms of quality.How are you integrating marketing initia-tives with channel partners to reach out to the customers and expand market base?

Of course, our strategy in the marketing side has always been revolving around only the channel engagement and the channel trust. For the trust to build, we have to maintain clarity and visibility in the entire programmes from day one. Our engagement programmes with the chan-nel partners has been fairly on those lines where we provide incentive to them. That has been the USP or the key strength in the channel programme. We have always launched the best programmes with retatil-ers. This has been appreciated by the retail-ers as well as our competitors. One of them has been the BE on Blackberry program, where retailers have themselves vouched the device. There couldn’t be a greater brand ambassador for any product than the retailer himself speak and talk about the product. All these programmes have helped us a lot in winning the trust of our partners and also helped us grow in terms of business.

Asus introduces STRIX line of gaming peripherals in IndiaAsus has introduced whole new breed of gaming peripher-als and accessories under the Strix banner. The new line of stylish peripherals includes the Strix Pro and Strix DSP gaming headsets, Strix Tactic Pro mechanical keyboard, Strix Glide gaming mouse pads and the Strix Claw optical gaming

mouse. Strix Claw is the ultimate gaming mouse for first-person shooters, crafted for those who demand unrivaled precision,

comfort and the competitive advantage. The Strix Claw is priced at Rs 3,570/-.The Strix Tactic Pro employs the highest-specification N-Key Rollover (NKRO) technology over USB. The Strix Tactic Pro is priced at Rs 7,250/-.Strix Glide Control mouse

pad is finished with a premium heavy-weave fabric, providing a textured surface for games that require fine control and abso-lute precision. The Strix Glide series is priced at Rs 850/-.Strix DSP is a superior multi-platform gaming headset. The Strix DSP is priced at ` 7,670/-.

01/NOVEMBER/2014 16TOPNOTCH BULLETIN

Navratri FestivalAt Express Avenue, Chennai from Sep 25th – Oct 4th 2014.

Multimedia Computer Speakers

SD/MMC • FM Radio • Remote controlUSB

Support SD/MMC memory cards • Built-in FM radio • Remote controlUSB stylish design • LED indicator • Supports MP3 and WMA file format

Bluetooth speakersBullet• Call function• Media control buttons• Built-in battery• Micro SD• MP3 WMA• FM• Stylish design

Sticky• Media control buttons• Li-ion battery• Firm Grip

• FM• 3.5mm jack• USB supports Micro SD• Volume control

01/NOVEMBER/2014 17RASHI NEWSWIRE

For more information contact: Rashi Branch • Bangalore :42480202, • Mangalore : 2225208, • Hubli: 2213777

Asus X99-Deluxe• Patent Pending OC Socket

–Drive CPU and DDR4 perfor-mance beyond all expectations.

• 5-way Optimization by Dual In-telligent Processors 5 – One click overclock and cooling,done.

• 3x3(3T3R) 802.11ac Wi-Fi – Fastest onboard Wi-Fi up to 1300Mb/s

Asus Networking - RT-N14UHP• Detachable high-gain 9dBi anten-

nas strengthen wireless coverage up to 300%

• USB port for printer networking, storage sharing, or 3G/4G connec-tions

• Easy 30 second setup and robust controls like network monitoring through AsusWRT dashboard

Asus Chromebook –Sleek yet sophisticated• The new line-up of sleek, sophisti-

cated and ultra-portable laptops.• Asus Chromebooks are perfect for

everyday ease of use.• C200 features a spacious touchpad

which gives easy controlover multi-touch gesture inputs.

Asus STRIX-GTX970-DC20C-4GD5 Graphics cards

ECS – Z87H3-A2X-Golden• Intel Z87 Express Chipset• Support Intel HD graphics 4000 (intel 4th gen CPU)• DirectX 11.1, supports Nvidia 2-way SLI• 0144xDDR3, Dual Channel up to 32 GB• 3xPCI Express x16 Gen 3.0 slot(s)• Supports ATI CrossfireX• 5 x Serial ATAIII 6Gb/s• 8-channel HD audio CODEC• Dual Realtek 8111G Gigabit Lan• Wi-fi 802.11a/b/g/n + Bluetooth V2.0• HDMI, Display port, 2 X eSATA 6Gb/s,

mSATA 44mm (H)

APC SUA1000UXI-IN• Input Voltage Window 160 V – 285

V.• Pure sine wave for longer life of the

equipment.• Cold start capability provides

temporary battery power when the utility power fails.

• Inbuilt charger 15 Amps –it helps in adding higher rating battery for higher backup.

• Hot-swappable batteries ensure clean, uninterrupted power while batteries are being replaced.

HP Elite-book Revolve 810-D7Y66PA• Core i5-3437U• 11.6” diagonal Multi touch HD

(1366x768) UWVA• 400-nit IPS panel with corning Gorilla

Glass 2• 8GB Ram,256GB SSD SATA III• Win 8 Pro 64• TPM Embedded Security chip• All Metal Magnesium Aluminium

Body• Integrated dual-microphone array for

conferencing

• Engine Clock MHz – 1.253• Memory Clock GHz - 7.01• Memory Interface – 256

• Bus standard – PCI –E 3.0• CUDA Core – 1664• DVI / HDMI /DP

01/NOVEMBER/2014 18SCHEMES AND PROMOTIONS

AirTight and Comguard join hands, launches Channel XPRESS - a new Channel Partner Pro-gram for IndiaIn order to expand its footprint pan India, AirTight Networks, a leading WLAN vendor appoints ComGuard as its national distributor.The two com-panies also announced a new channel partner program for India – Channel XPRESS, aimed at arming the part-ners with disruptive solutions for high profitability. AirTight is a leading provider of Easy-to-Use Secure Wi-Fi solutions, which cuts across all verticals and has been long appreciated at the global stage. Having primed the Indian market with marquee customer base and now going through an exciting period of growth, the partnership with Comguard is stra-tegically poised to address the market demand for the technology. Comguard as a Value Added Distributor would bring in a lot of value in key areas of sales & marketing, partner manage-ment and training, proof of concepts, and support for all AirTight products.This partnership is very critical to the Indian market as the WLAN market is seeing an upswing in the country. As per IDC’s Quarterly APeJ Wireless LAN tracker, the Wireless LAN market in India witnessed a 17.6% increase QoQ and 10.5% YoY during 1Q 2014 over the previous year. The Q1 2014 WLAN India market was pegged at USD 35.9 million. Despite the past trend of seasonal low in the last quarter of a year combined with the noticeable slow-down due to the elections, the numbers above show a relatively positive sentiment and have put the LAN & WLAN markets in In-dia in a strong position for the upcom-ing quarters.

Plantronics festive season with Scratch & Win Offer Plantronics is set to introduce a new scheme for customers across the country to give them another reason to celebrate. The scheme is especially designed for consumers buying Plantronics products offline which will help them get equal benefits with the assurance of buying a genuine product. This ‘Scratch and Win’ scheme gives every customer a chance to

get assured gifts this festive season.The scheme is valid for all products sold through Rashi Peripherals with an assured gift ranging from Tablets to SD cards and USB drives. The Scratch & Win contest begins on the 22nd September & will end on 23 October 2014. The contest aims for the consumer to get that extra benefit this festive season.

Genius organizes dealer meet in Chennai

Emerson Network Power announces the ‘Diwali Delights’ Scheme Emerson Network Power has announced the launch of the ‘Diwali Delights’ scheme for its channel partners in India. Emerson has unveiled this monthly scheme to boost demand and reward its partners on the sale of its uninterruptible power supply UPS systems (up to 20kVA) and its datacenter infrastructure management (DCIM) and rack data unit products. Diwali Delights will be run in partnership with Payback and partners will be able to redeem their points from over 50 PAYBACK partner brands. The ‘Diwali Delights’ program is valid for a period of one month starting October 1, 2014 to October 31, 2014.

Genius has recently organized a meet for it’s dealers in the vibrant, southern city of Chennai. Attended by over 170 + leading channel partners from all over Tamil Nadu, the dealer meet was intended to attract new partners and consolidate its relation-ship with existing partners. The senior offi-cials from Genius presiding over the meet included, Ms. Sharon Chiang (Business Head from Taiwan), Mr. Gaurav Mathur (Country Head - India) and Mr. Kumara-vel V (Regional Manager – South India)

The meet witnessed focus on Genius’s existing range of products, its unique sell-ing proposition as a brand and upcoming product roadmap. The event concluded on a high note with recognition awards being conferred on three Genius Value Partners.

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RNI No.2003\14367 Registered No: KL/CT/155/2014-16 Publication Date: 01/11/2014 Postal Date: 1st and 2nd of every month.